How far would you go for a million pounds?
Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, grandparents, we'd all crossed lines we'd believed were sacred. Broken taboos we thought untouchable.
Fifty contestants down. Five hundred thousand in the bank.
We stared at the piggy bank watching the money rain in, all of us wondering the same thing. How far would we go for a million pounds?
We were half way to finding out.
--
I clung to Tim's chest, sobbing gently, as he traced circles on the small of my back to soothe me. It had been hours since we'd counted our fallen. Cocooned in my brothers arms underneath our duvet in the dark dormitory hall, I could almost believe everything would turn out alright. Almost.
"I'm so, so sorry," I whispered, "I was selfish and reckless and stupid, so stupid, to put you in this situation."
"It's not your fault," my brother whispered back, "I should have answered your calls but I was...I was afraid."
I buried my face in his strong chest, inhaling his scent. "What could you possibly be afraid of?"
I could hear his heart beating loud and strong.
"I was afraid of how I felt after that first time, after the buzz game."
"How did you feel?"
"I'd never seen you that way before, Skye."
"What way?" I mumbled into his chest.
"As someone more than my sister," Tim paused, "as a woman. I was afraid of what you made me feel."
His heart beat faster, louder.
"I wanted you, Skye. I wanted you in a way a brother shouldn't want his sister."
"And now?"
Cocooned in our safe little world, we could say anything, be anyone to each other.
"I'm not afraid any more."
"I had no idea," I held him to me tightly, "I'm sorry.
"It's okay," Tim whispered, his fingers lingering on hollow of my back, "I forgive you."
I lifted my head and looked into his warm eyes. "Do you mean it?"
Tim kissed me softly on my forehead.
"Always."
I shifted my body up his torso and held his cheek in my hand.
"Do you really mean it?"
Our lips brushed as he responded. "Every word."
I don't know who closed the gap. We were kissing. Not like siblings. Like lovers. Passionate and needy.
Then it was over.
"Skye," Tim choked, "we can't."
"I know," I replied sadly.
"We can't let them win. We have to be strong."
I nodded uncertainly, knowing the truth of his words but not wanting to believe it.
I lay my head against back his chest and listened to his heart until we fell asleep.
--
The lights were on in the hall when I woke. Tim and I were still buried beneath our duvet in the same position we'd fallen asleep in. Some time during the night my nightie must have ridden up because I could feel Tim's fingers on the naked skin of my lower back.
"Skye?"
I lay completely still, not wanting to ruin the perfect moment. Tim's fingers slowly traced spirals on my skin, wandering tantalisingly towards the curve of my butt before slipping back down my spine.
"Skye?" Tim repeated gently.
"Don't stop." I groaned sleepily, snuggling against his chest. "Feels nice."
It was then that I noticed the firm pressure against my inner thigh. I wiggled my hips, trying to shift the uncomfortable lump, and felt it suddenly lurch between my legs towards the elasticated waistband of Tim's boxer shorts.
"Skye!" Tim's voice was sharper, a warning now.
The lump in his boxers was lodged in the V between my legs, almost touching my exposed pussy.
"S'okay," I sighed, "a little longer?"
Tim didn't respond but I felt his fingers start their passage over my back again. Now here's the thing, I might not be able to orgasm but my body makes up for it in other ways. Like my erogenous zones. Super sensitive. My ears, my neck, my back. My back most of all. So, in a way, Tim started it.
Can you blame me for shifting my hips, feigning an attempt to get comfortable, as I sought out the log in my brother's boxers?
I felt Tim inhale sharply as I backed up my pussy onto the outline of his firm cock. The only thing separating us was the thin layer of silk moulded to the outline of his mushrooming tip. I wiggled my hips again, nestling the lump into my wet folds.
"How far would you go?" I whispered, moving my hips in slow circles.
Tim's fingers resumed their slow passage across my back. "For what?"
"How far would you go to win?"
The bulbous shape nudge against my opening and I shimmied further down Tim's body, feeling myself stretching around Tim's tip. Tim's hand shot to my ass, grabbing my soft cheek firmly to prevent me from taking him any deeper.
"Skye..."
We teetered there on the precipice, his silk-covered cock pulsing at the entrance to my dripping hole. I felt it lurch, expanding with a rush of blood that coaxed him incrementally deeper.
"Wakey wakey lovers!"
The duvet was ripped unceremoniously over heads, exposing us to Akari's grinning face peering over the edge of our bunk.
"Akari!" I quickly rolled off Tim, snatching at the duvet and pulling it up to my chin. "How long have you been there?!"
"Long enough," Akari winked, "I hate to disturb you but we've got a problem."
"What's happened?" Tim sat up beside me, blushing furiously and trying to hide the tent at his lap.
"It's Ellie and Larry. They've gone missing."
I leaned over the edge of our bunk. Sure enough, the bed beneath us was empty.
"It was empty when I woke up."
"You don't think they've been..." Tim hesitated, "eliminated?"
"Nu-uh," Akari said confidently, "me and Grandpa are still here and we were partners with them in the last game."
"Have you checked with Lisa and Dwight," I asked, "maybe they saw something?"
A wry smile broke over Akari's face. "Oh, I think they've been a little distracted."
Tim and I looked over to their bunk and gasped in unison. Dwight and Lisa were hidden beneath their duvet, where a hunched shape bobbed up and down beneath the mound of bedding.
"Someone's a fast learner." Tim said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"She had a good teacher." Akari grinned.
"Contestants!" A distorted voice echoed over the PA system in the hall and the movements beneath the duvet suddenly stopped.
"You have succeeded in reaching the halfway mark of Sib Games. Congratulations. As a reward, you have earned a day of rest."
Lisa emerged from the duvet with wild, dishevelled hair, wiping her mouth and looking around the hall in confusion.
"Teams will present themselves at the Sib Games onsen in ten minutes."
--
The goons corralled us into an unfamiliar area of the sprawling compound. The unadorned concrete corridors and harsh spot-lighting gave way to paper walls that diffused a soft orange glow. A scent like fresh blossom wafted through the air and I thought I could hear gentle murmur of running water.
Before I had time to ask Tim if he heard it too, the men were separated from us and we were led into a tiled shower area completely unlike the one adjoining the dormitory. Short wooden stalls and shallow buckets rested in front of individual washing stations equipped with mirrors, shower heads, and all manner of expensive gels and lotions.
As our group warily dispersed to claim a position at the wash areas, I spotted Ellie ahead of me.
"Ellie!"
The buxom brunette turned, frowned, and then hurried away to a wash area on the far side of the room.
"Wonder what's grinding her gears?" I pondered as Akari and I perched side by side on adjacent stools.
"Beats me," Akari shrugged, "but it's catching."
We watched as Lisa hurried past us and took up a position against the far wall.
"Whatever it is, we need to fix it." I decided, "we're weaker without them."
--
"Where ARE we?"
We'd emerged from the wash area in freshly laundered cotton robes and stood gawping at the snow covered valley falling away in front of us. A steaming brook cut a path through an onsen surrounded by bronze-leafed trees, tumbling away to join a river far below on the valley floor. Small wooden structures housed rocky bathing pools but elsewhere the valley was totally devoid of human life, as desolate and uninhabited as the surface of the moon.
A door opened on the other side of the brook and the men spilled out into the clearing, similarly robed and equally stunned.
"Tim!" I called, leapfrogging over the warm water to join him.
"Are you okay?" He asked, voice full of concern, "did they hurt you?"
"No," I laughed, pinching his freshly shaved cheek appreciatively, "they washed us."
"What do we do now?" Tim looked round at the family members reuniting across the clearing.
"I think...I think they want us to use the onsen. I don't think this is a task."
"But...what if someone runs?"
"Where to?" I gestured to the wild landscape, "I don't fancy my chances in this robe, do you?"
"No," Tim laughed, "I guess we might as well make the most of it."
"Come on," I pulled on his hand, "let's explore."